


Even Still

by dreamersshouldknowbetter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/M, One Shot, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 03:02:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11175639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamersshouldknowbetter/pseuds/dreamersshouldknowbetter
Summary: So this was kind of a quick write and it focuses more on emotion than plot, but I’m proud of it. Hope you enjoy!





	Even Still

**Author's Note:**

> So this was kind of a quick write and it focuses more on emotion than plot, but I’m proud of it. Hope you enjoy!

Betty: I still have your flannel. Are you ever going to pick it up?  
Jughead: I don’t have time to get over there.  
Betty: Well I don’t want it.  
Jughead: Then I guess you’ll have to bring it to the trailer.  
Betty: Fine. Tomorrow. After school.  


Betty locked her phone screen and hurled the device onto her bed, trying and failing to fight back the oncoming fit of tears. Every part of her body ached. 

How did she end up here? Just months ago she and Jughead had been closer than ever. So in love and so happy. 

And then the town had to go and fall into a civil war. 

Betty trudged through the next day, barely present in any of her classes as her stomach churned with anxiety. It felt like every five minutes she had to remind herself to unfurl her fists, her nails cutting into the skin bit by bit until the skin finally gave way. 

When the day finally ended Betty practically bolted off campus, making her way to the trailer park in record time. The second she saw that trailer door, however, she froze. Was she really ready for this? Once she returned his things she’d likely never speak to him again. With the town divided the way it was it’s not like she was going to casually run into him at the grocery store. 

“C’mon Betty,” she whispered to herself, “you can do this.” She gripped his flannel even tighter before reaching up and knocking on the door.

A few seconds passed before she heard movement, her chest tightening as heavy footsteps approached the door. 

The door swung open and there he was. Betty’s heart stopped short. He looked... undone. His hair was ragged and beanie-less, his shirt was wrinkled and his eyes were tired. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Oh my god, Juggie, are you okay?” Betty instantly became concerned, reaching out to touch his cheek before remembering herself and pulling back. “Sorry.” She apologized, her shoulders deflating as she stared down at her shoes. 

They stood in silence for a moment, neither of them quite sure what to say. 

“Do you -” Jughead finally spoke, “Do you want to come in?”

Betty wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Just being near him made her want to scream. She didn’t want to stay, she wanted to run away and never look back. But years of practiced politeness was too much for her to resist, so she stepped past him and into the trailer.

The living room was surprisingly messy. Not in the way it had been when FP was on a booze binge, but definitely not as nice as Jughead tried to keep it. Jughead sat down on one of the couches and Betty sat on the other, the distance between them feeling foreign and awkward.

Betty set the flannel on the coffee table between them and rubbed her palms on her knees. He was the one who had invited her in, he could be the first one to speak.

“Well this is...” Jughead trailed off, unable to find the words.

“Awkward? Uncomfortable?” Betty offered, her tone biting. She knew she sounded cruel but she didn’t care. He was the one who had broken up with her, he was the one who invited her inside, she didn’t have to be nice.

“Can you-” He paused, “Can you just come over here please? I can’t focus with you sitting there. It’s too weird.”

Betty looked at him for a moment, flustered, before slowly standing up and moving over to sit beside him on the couch. As she sat down, her shoulder brushed against his and she felt her heart rush. Every fiber of her screamed to back away, to move across the room once more, but it was too late, she was already sitting. She stared straight forward, refusing to say a word.

“Betts, I - can you look at me? Please?” There was a desperation in Jughead’s voice, a pleading that pulled Betty’s eyes toward his. “God, Betty, I’m so sorry.”

Betty’s breath hitched as his breath tickled her chin, her stomach dropping under the gaze of his piercing blue eyes. She physically could not make sense of all the thoughts running through her mind, his proximity leaving her breathless and senseless. 

“Please,” His voice was a mere whisper, somehow felt more than heard, “Forgive me.”

Her lips parted, an attempt to say something - anything, but it was all too much. He looked at her, eyebrows knitted together in distress. His eyes flickered down to her lips, only a millisecond of weakness but she saw it. He inched forward, his nose brushing against hers as he grew closer with each agonizing second. 

Before her mind could truly process a response, his lips were on hers, her hand instinctively reaching up to cup his cheek. She squeezed her eyes tight, the tears that had been brimming finally flooding over, as her heart attempted to fly out of her chest and toward him. She pulled away, pushing him with a gentle hand on his chest and looking down toward her lap, trying to collect herself.

“Sorry.” Jughead mumbled. “It just… it hurts so much.”

“Yeah.” She whispered, her voice growing cold, “It does.”

“I shouldn’t have said what I did Betty. I mean, god, I haven’t seen you for three days and I’m already falling apart. Please, please, take me back.”

“You said we were wrong for each other. That there was no more point in trying. That you didn’t love me anymore.” Betty’s eyes were brimming with tears, every word leaving a bitter taste on her tongue.

“I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I just...” his shoulders slumped, “I got scared. This town is falling apart, Betty. I just kept waiting for us to be the next casualty. I got tired of waiting, and I just... I decided to put an end to it.” He took her hands in his, holding onto her as if he was afraid she might fly away, “But it was a mistake.”

“Jughead,” Betty softened, her anger melting away as she looked into his heartbroken eyes, “Don’t you get it? We’re not going to be a casualty. I’m not going to let us.” She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, stroking her thumb against his jawline, “I love you.”

“Still?” Jughead asked, his voice brimming with uncertainty and hope.

“Still.” Betty smiled, leaning in and kissing him again. But this time, there was no uncertainty, no sadness - only the reassurance she had been trying to give him for so long. And for the first time in a long time, Betty could feel him accept it.


End file.
